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Memories of Merelbeke - een randgemeente van Gent

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Belgium 1970s

256

MERELBEKE

We lived in Belgium in the 1970s. Dad, Eric Hayles was working for Volvo Europa at Oostakker near Ghent and we moved into a house in the Verlorenbroodstraat in Merelbeke. We hope you enjoy our evocative photos of life in Merelbeke, a suburb of Ghent.

56 files, last one added on Oct 27, 2014
Album viewed 1878 times

GHENT/GENT BELGIUM

We lived near the beautiful city of Ghent (Gent) in Belgium in East Flanders (Oost Vlaanderen) from 1974 till 1978, although dad was there for about another six years after that. We hope you enjoy some of our photo archive from those happy times.

48 files, last one added on Oct 27, 2014
Album viewed 484 times

MERELBEKE FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS

Some of our wonderful neighbours and friends when we lived in Merelbeke. If you know any names that we haven't mentioned, please add them below the photo.

109 files, last one added on Oct 27, 2014
Album viewed 691 times

DANSCLUB TERPSICHORE MERELBEKE

Mum and dad had dancing lessons at the Dansclub Terpsichore in Hundelgemsesteenweg in 1977-78. These are pictures from one of their social functions.

15 files, last one added on Mar 15, 2014
Album viewed 510 times

OUT AND ABOUT IN BELGIUM

13 files, last one added on Mar 23, 2014
Album viewed 445 times

Our Welsh friends, the Davies Family

We attended church at the Evangelisch Centruum, Burgstraat, Gent, where we got to know the wonderful Davies family from Wales (the clue was in the name!) Charles and Betty, Godfrey, Joseph and Noel. There were also two sisters who weren't in Belgium. Charles was an accomplished artists and signwriter. He once had a job painting the Coca Cola logo on lorries, so he must have been very good! He also painted a sign for our neighbours opposite which read "Bobinage van motoren".

11 files, last one added on Apr 26, 2014
Album viewed 397 times

Documentation

Leaflets and other documentation from our time in Belgium

4 files, last one added on Dec 05, 2017
Album viewed 180 times

7 albums on 1 page(s)

Belgium 1990s

VISITS TO MERELBEKE IN 1990s

In the 1990s, along came the internet. Jonathan put "Merelbeke" into a search engine to see what he would see, and stumbled across the website of Sint-Michielsschool. After writing a greeting in the guest book he received a reply from Guy van Heddegem, and a friendship developed which led to Jonathan visiting Merelbeke in 1998 and writing a song which was performed at the school's Eindejaarshow. He visited again the following year. Here are some pictures from those shows.... we hope to bring you some video clips in the future too. Photos mostly by Jonathan Hayles, captions by Guy van Heddegem.

40 files, last one added on Mar 16, 2014
Album viewed 408 times

1 albums on 1 page(s)

296 files in 8 albums and 2 categories with 5 comments viewed 173,155 times

Last additions

GITO Merelbeke flyer van 1975 4/43811 viewsDec 05, 2017

GITO Merelbeke flyer van 1975 3/43682 viewsDec 05, 2017

1/4487 viewsDec 05, 2017

GITO Merelbeke leaflet from 1975 2/4469 viewsGITO Merelbeke flyer van 1975Dec 05, 2017

Cards at Number 31641 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried at his mother's in Moortsele626 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried's mother in Moortsele631 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried and Lydiane at Wilfried's mother's in Moortsele642 viewsOct 27, 2014

Tram near the Gravensteen in Ghent, 19781151 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried adds the finishing touches to his villa617 viewsOct 27, 2014

Lydiane makes sure Wilfried is doing things properly612 viewsOct 27, 2014

Wilfried adds the finishing touches to his villa606 viewsOct 27, 2014

Random files

A great evening with our relatives from England and Wilfried and Lydiane De Moor582 views

Verlorenbroodstraat 29842 viewsFrom the rear. In the foreground, a cement mixer on the building site of 31, Verlorenbroodstraat where Wilfried de Moor was building a villa.

Party time at Dansclub Terpsichore Merelbeke323 views

Eric Piens watched by his son Reuben420 viewsApril 1978
I believe Eric is using Wilfried de Moor's cement mixer. I recognise it well!

Josh in living room of Verlorenbrooadstraat 29410 views

Our Merelbeke home starts arriving back in England.....796 views.... on the roof of dad's VW Transporter minibus.

Austin 1800 in the drive of our house625 viewsDad's car, built in 1965. He bought it circa 1970.

Ghent by night by Eric Hayles 553 viewsEarly 1980s

Michael and Julie447 views

The Cowans and the Davies's450 viewsA visit to Ypres. Mr and Mrs Cowan from Hayes Town Chapel were staying with us. Mum and Dad took them on a visit to Ypres. Betty and Charles Davies are there too, along with their sons Noel and Joseph. Dad can't remember if you all met up in Ypres or travelled together. Either way, he didn't have room in our car for his sons, and it was as a result of that he decided to buy the Volkwagen minibus you see in some of our other pictures. It was so if friends came over from England, we could all go out together.

Maureen with her brother in law, Fred389 views

Sint-Michielsschool 1999325 views